Bedridden

On an entirely ordinary morning, everything suddenly stops. The clock no longer ticks, the wind does not blow, the cars stand in the middle of the road. At least that’s how it seems to a 26-year-old young writer who then also decides to stop and never even come out of bed. The young man just writes his book and thinks. His close ones do not understand his egocentric decision and the extraordinary act naturally has consequences.

"Bedridden" is like a love poem which has its own rhythm and repetitions. The topics of the story are augmented by the black-and-white visual and the smooth back-and-forth camera work which runs like a train on tracks. The screenplay of director Byamba Sakhya is based on a novel of the same title by Mongolian author Ayurzana and touches upon several generations. It is an emotional film which sees every character as a human being. In addition to the writer’s love life, we also see his father and mother’s attempts to find love.

Sakhya uses an empty roller coaster as a symbol throughout the film. The roller coaster carriage goes up and then down, fast and then slow, but always round and round in the same circle. Should we keep going or should we get off? This peculiar Mongolian film gives us all an opportunity to stop for a second and think about how we got to where we currently are.

The director’s previous feature film "Remote Control" took part in various international festivals and was successful in the New Currents section in Busan.

Liisi Rohumäe